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Siminder Kaur fought relentlessly to get her son back. Her indomitable spirit gives hope to women around the world that some fights are worth fighting for!
Motherhood is one of the most beautiful phases in a woman’s life. Carrying a child inside one’s body and nourishing the unborn for nine months and then bearing with the worst kind of pain that there is, i.e., labour pain – a woman goes through all this only to bring another life into this world. But what if the child she had been waiting for so long, she had been caring for, for so long, and has a natural right to raise, gets taken away?
This is exactly what happened to Siminder Kaur, an NRI from the US who was tricked into leaving her son behind with her in-laws in Mohali while she went back to the US with her husband to work on their troubled marriage. However, when she went back to the US, she realised that her husband had no intention of reconciling with her or of bringing back their son. After coming back to Mohali, she was devastated when she realised that she was being betrayed by her in-laws too, when they refused to hand her son over to her and instead threatened her with legal action.
This is non a rare issue in India, especially in parts of Punjab. Siminder herself referred to this case as a case of “International abduction by a parent.” Despite being heartbroken and fearful of all that might happen to her if she dared to take action against her in-laws, she filed a petition with the National Commission for Women, raising valid questions such as, why she was made to stay away from her son – she was not a criminal and that this was not a divorce case or a case of custody. She demanded that the police help her and that her legal rights be upheld.
Being the strong woman that she is, she also decided that she would not keep quiet and created a Facebook page, A Mother’s Plight, where she recorded her struggles through videos and written messages. The outpouring of support and wishes she received from the world over kept her strong and going, in the hope of getting her son back!
After a legal fight for almost a year, though, she has now gotten her son back. The video she posted yesterday, 23rd February, 2017 on her page, shows her with her son, back in her arms after almost one year apart. The amount of love and excitement in her voice and the exchange of so many kisses between the mother and the son is surely an inspiration to many – that in the face of hardships, only the strong and determined win.
We wish this mother-and-son duo all the love!
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Image courtesy Siminder’s Facebook page linked to above
Just your average pen-wielding person with a knack for thinking inside the box. read more...
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People say that women are the greatest enemies of women. I vehemently disagree. It is the patriarchal mindset that makes women believe in the wrong ideology.
The entire world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024. It should be a joyful day, but unfortunately, not all women are entitled to this privilege, as violence against women is at its peak. The experience of oppression pushes many women to choose freedom. As far as patriotism is concerned, feminism is not a cup of tea in this society.
What happens when a woman decides to stand up for herself? Does this world easily accept the decisions of women in this society? What inspires them to be free of the clutches of the oppression that women have faced for ages? Most of the time, women do not get the chance to decide for themselves. Their lives are always at the mercy of someone, which can be their parents, siblings, husband, or children.
In some cases, women do not feel the need to make any decisions. They are taught to obey the patriarchal system, which makes them believe that they are right. In my family, I was never taught to make decisions on my own. It was always my parents who bought dresses and all that I needed.
14 years after her last feature film Dhobi Ghat, storyteller extraordinaire comes up with her new film, Laapataa Ladies, a must watch.
*Some spoilers alert*
Every religion around the world dictates terms to women. The onus is always on women to be ‘modest’ and cover their faces and bodies so men can’t be “tempted”, rather than on men to keep their eyes where they belong and behave like civilized beings. So much so that even rape has been excused on the grounds of women eating chowmein or ‘men will be men’. I think the best Hindi movie retort to this unwanted advice on ‘akeli ladki khuli tijori ki tarah hoti hai’ (an alone woman is like an open jewellery box) came from Geet in Jab We Met – Kya aap gyan dene ke paise lete hain kyonki chillar nahin hain mere paas.
The premise of Laapataa Ladies is beautifully simple – two brides clad in the ghunghat that covers their identity get mixed up on a train. Within this Russian Doll, you get a comedy of errors, a story of getting lost, a commentary on patriarchy’s attitude towards women, a mystery, and a tale of finding oneself, all in one. Done with a mostly light touch that has you laughing and nodding along.
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